The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the narrator of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas official, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has ordered the corporation to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Risk to Erode Confidence'
The watchdog's statement stated: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the narrator's parent occupied a role in the Hamas-run authority was materially misleading.
"This implied that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the voice and the content he shared.
"Trust is at the core of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the very considerable amounts of confidence that the public would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the boy's family links emerged, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which reflects clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
